LUMPENPROLETARIAT—As we immerse ourselves in the holiday spirit, we observe how that Christmas spirit does not run very deeply in our society beyond our insular family circles. Despite the euphoric sense of virtue the charitable may feel, philanthropy and charity fail society when the structures of society, which caused the social ills are not changed and then fail to meet the needs of the neediest among us. Our neighbours and community members, who are forced to endure nights of freezing cold without shelter, represent the failings of our society’s sense of morality and responsibility.

As homeless, or houseless, people are increasingly corralled and criminalised with little to no public supports, Hard Knock Radio confronts the hypocrisy of the City of Oakland in its treatment of the desperate poor, who have been denied usage of abandoned buildings, which apparently have been allowed for hipsters and middle- or upper-class inhabitants to use as artist spaces. And, sadly, the City of Oakland is one of the few American cities with some form of sanctuary status for its homeless population. But the Oakland Ghost Ship building fire has exposed an apparent double-standard, as we have seen hedonistic artists have been allowed by authorities to inhabit unused spaces, which had previously been denied to community organisers and the homeless since at least the days of Occupy Oakland. Speaking with SF Bay Area organiser Nita B, among other topics, Davey D discussed the Compassionate Sanctuary policies, which are ostensibly intended to support the needs of the homeless population, but which are now looking like they were merely “a publicity stunt” by an Oakland city official to get re-elected. Listen here. [1]

DAVEY D: “Davey D, Hard Knock Radio, hangin’ out wit’ you this afternoon. Here we are; it’s the day after Christmas. We’re still in the holiday spirit. But it seems like, when you look at municipalities, they are anything but.

“In San Francisco, we’ve seen that police have resorted to confiscating, uh, instruments from street musicians, who depend upon this time of year to play, um, uplifting, very festive tunes. But you have some Grinch-like individuals, in particular those, who have been residing in the Westin St. Francis, who have been complaining. And we’ve seen the police confiscate the instruments of street musicians. Over in the City of Oakland, we have seen that the homeless encampments, that have been in existence as a way to show compassion for those, who have less, are now about to be removed in a reversal of what the original spirit and the original compassion was about. (c. 10:51)

“Joining us on the [phone] line is long-time activist, Nita B. And, Nita, we wanted to bring you to the show because you’re talking about an emergency action, that is being called to not only bring attention to what is going on in the City of Oakland, but also to help curtail an action, that you feel is definitely inhumane and unfair.

“So, let’s talk a little bit about what’s going on in Oakland with regards to the homeless.” (c. 11:24)

NITA B: “Well, this particular situation, that’s happening, um, it’s gonna be on the 35th-Peralta [homeless] encampment in District Three in west Oakland—north Oakland border that right before this election season Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who is the president of the City Council for the northern district [snip]

[1] Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving: Hard Knock Radio, this one-hour broadcast hosted by co-host Davey D, Monday, 26 DEC 2016, 16:00 PST. [N.B.: For some unfortunate reason, Hard Knock Radio usually removes their audio archives from public access two weeks after the initial broadcast date. In this case, the unfortunate reason can be attributed to an apparent inability or refusal to edit out the copyrighted musical selection, or secure fair use permissions.]